Wei WuXian, “HanGuang-Jun, listen to me. Please don’t have your sect handle all of the aftermath of Yi City alone. It’s such a big city. If you really want to tidy the place up, it’d cost you a lot in terms of many aspects. It’ll be quite difficult. Shuzhong isn’t under the administration of the GusuLan Sect anyways. Count the disciples downstairs and see which sects they came from. Add their sects up as well. Those sects should also help you.”
Lan WangJi, “I will consider it.”
Wei WuXian, “Yes, please do. Everyone likes to fight for the preys and push around the responsibilities. Now, if your sect is taken advantage of, even if it’s for the good of them, they might not feel grateful or understand why you did it. If this repeats too much, they’d take it as granted that your sect always takes care of such things. That’s how things are in this world.”
After a pause, he continued, “But, speaking of it, they really are unlucky. Yi City is too remote and there aren’t any lookout towers around it. Or else, Jin Ling, SiZhui, and the rest wouldn’t have accidentally barged in. Maiden A-Qing and Daozhang Xiao XingChen’s souls wouldn’t have stayed hidden for all these years either.”
No matter how big or how small, there were as many cultivational sects as stars in a night sky. Most were situated at flourishing cities that could be conveniently accessed or spiritual grounds with beautiful scenery. The sects, however, were unwilling to be stationed at certain remote areas. Rogue cultivators rarely travelled to those places either. Thus, when evil beings haunted, the dwellers there usually suffered in silence, unable to find help anywhere.
When the previous leader of the LanlingJin Sect, Jin GuangShan, was still alive, Jin GuangYao had brought the matter up before. However, it would have cost a great deal and Jin GuangShan wasn’t overly enthusiastic about the idea either. Also since, back then, the LanlingJin Sect’s leadership wasn’t as powerful, the matter wasn’t seen as important, and nothing ended up happening.
After Jin GuangYao officially succeeded the position of Sect Leader and became the Chief Cultivator, he immediately gathered people and resources from the sects, and started to carry out his past goals. In the beginning, the voices of opposition were deafening. A lot of people suspected that the LanlingJin Sect used it to gain personal benefits and stuff its own pockets. With a smiling face, Jin GuangYao persisted for five years. During the years, he allied but also fell out with countless people. Using both gentle and forceful methods, he did all that he could and what he wished for was finally completed. More than twelve hundred “lookout towers” had been built.
These “lookout towers” were scattered around the more remote places. Every one of them were assigned disciples from certain sects. If anything strange happened, they’d take action at once. When they couldn’t deal with the matter, they’d send out messages to other sects or rogue cultivators for help. Even if the cultivators who came wanted something in return while the locals were too poor to give them any, the money that the LanlingJin Sect gathered throughout each year would be enough to support them.
All of these happened after the death of the YiLing Patriarch. Wei WuXian only heard the ins and outs from Lan WangJi after they passed a few lookout towers during their journey. Rumors had it that Koi Tower was preparing to build the next batch of lookout towers, increasing them to three thousand in number so that they covered a greater area. Although after the first lookout towers were built, they received widespread approvals due to their notable effects, the voices of suspicion and ridicule had never died either. When the time came, the cultivation world would definitely be thrown into chaos again.
Not long later, both the food and the liquor arrived. Wei WuXian glanced over the table, pretending as if he didn’t mean it. Almost all of the dishes were covered in red. Paying attention to Lan WangJi’s chopsticks, he notes that he ate mostly from the milder dishes, rarely the bright-red ones. Even when he did, his expression remained the exact same. Wei WuXian felt something tug at his heart.
Having noticed his gaze, Lan WangJi asked, “What is wrong?”
Wei WuXian slowly poured himself a cup of liquor, “I want somebody to drink with me.”
Chapter 43 Allure—Part One
He never actually expected Lan WangJi to drink with him, and simply finished the liquor in his own cup. However, staring silently at him, Lan WangJi gently swept his own sleeves aside. He poured a cup for himself as well and, after a pause, he slowly downed the liquor.
Wei WuXian was quite surprised, “HanGuang-Jun, you really are considerate, aren’t you? You’re really gonna drink with me?”
The last time they drank together, Wei WuXian didn’t pay much attention to Lan WangJi’s expression. This time, however, he went out of his way to scrutinize it.
Lan WangJi closed his eyelids when he drank. With a faint frown, he finished the liquor, and only opened his eyes again after subtly pursing up his lips. A blanket of mist even seemed to have fallen over his eyes.
Resting his chin in his hand, Wei WuXian started to count in silence. As he had expected, when he reached the number eight, Lan WangJi put the cup down. He touched his forehead, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.
Wei WuXian was completely convinced—Lan WangJi really did fall asleep before he woke up drunk!
For some unknown reason, he was starting to feel a bit eager. Finishing all of the leftover liquor in one gulp, Wei WuXian stood up and paced around the room, his hands folded behind him. After a while, he walked toward Lan WangJi, bent down, and whispered by his ear, “Lan Zhan?”
There was no reply. Wei WuXian continued, “WangJi-xiong?”
Lan WangJi was leaning his head on his right hand. His breathing was calmer than ever.
Both his features and the hand at his forehead were impeccably fair in color. He looked as if he was a piece of fine jade.
The faint fragrance of sandalwood that surrounded him had originally been cold, somewhat grim. Now, however, as it combined with the liquor’s mellow aroma, a few tinges of warmth rippled through the coldness. As though a saccharine whisp had wound its way through, the scent could almost be described as intoxicating.
Now that Wei WuXian was near enough, the scent intertwined with his breaths. He couldn’t help but bent down further so that he was even closer to Lan WangJi. Vaguely, he thought to himself, Strange… Why is it starting to feel a bit hot in here?
Amid the fusion of liquor and sandalwood, his face inched nearer and nearer, while he himself didn’t notice it at all. His voice had lowered as well. In an almost teasing manner, he murmured, “Second… Bro-…”
Suddenly, a voice entered his ears, “Young Master…”
Wei WuXian’s face was already less than an inch away from Lan WangJi’s. The word “Brother” was at the tip of his tongue as well. Startled by the sound, he almost fell onto the ground with a slip of his feet.
He immediately positioned himself in front of Lan WangJi. Then, he turned to the wooden windows of where the voice came from.
A careful knock could be heard through the windows, then a small voice drifted through the slit, “Young Master…”
Wei WuXian finally noticed that his heart was beating a bit too fast. He puzzled over it again, then regained his composure. Walking over, he raised the window to see a black-clothed figure dangling upside-down with legs hung at the roof, preparing to knock once more. Wei WuXian quickly opened the window, which bumped into the person’s head. The figure exclaimed with a light ah. Holding the windows back with both of his hands, he finally made eye contact with Wei WuXian.